30.1.12

some things sprouting up- basil, green onions, arugula and cat grass (thanks to Kim and Danny at GreenAid Seedbombs!) pocket loves the grass, and i am excited to have fresh green things to eat, eventually

pocket carefully observes my painting technique:

a piece in progress, after a late-night painting session

today pocket discovered that the mini disco ball that was hanging in the window is a great toy to bat around the house..

she carries it like a mouse by its tail...

and here are some pictures of a new piece, "Pauses"

she's sitting on a bit of driftwood, more info soon!

I am alllllmoooost finished with my new series "All Eyes Averted" that will be showing at WWA Gallery in Culver City starting February 18th! A preview will be up soon and if you would like to be added to the preview list, check out the gallery's website here! Excitement!

19.1.12

sooo my lovely sister Cory was so kind to give me one of her oldish cameras for my birthday/christmas, which is soo exciting so... i've been taking lots of pictures - of some new stuff, some stuff in progress, and...ya know, plants and cats.

here's some detail shots of one of the newest pieces i've recently finished

and an in-progress shot of my attempt at resin-pouring- things worked out okay, but it's a tricky process, and i would definitely do some things differently if there is a next time attempting something like this...plus it stinks up the house like mad.

and just for funzies: today i made out like a bandit at the thrift store- i was poking around an old sewing desk (the ones with the built-in machine) and opened the drawers to find a goldmine of vintage sewing supplies, silk thread, and- the kicker- photos from August, 1968, of who i would assume is the seamstress, hanging out with her friends at the beach! this is why i love scrounging.

15.1.12

so. it is nearing the time where i freak out about the
upcoming show and put my nervous energy into random and unnecessary
experiments. the onion-skin silk-dying experiment was a success. the
"i'm going to melt all the old candle bits down and make new candles"
experiment was much much less successful (read: wax all over my kitchen
counter, as it drained out of the poorly-constructed "molds"- resulting
in two mildly misshapen blueish candles that may or may not burn
correctly.) So! i will show you photos of the fun process of dyeing
fabric with the dry crumbly skins of yellow onions. it makes the house
smell like soup.

you start by gathering as many onion skins as possible- just the outermost layers. this is about a 24 oz. jar, stuffed full!

then you fill a pot with water, get it a-boilin', then put your onions in- you can see from where the spatula is in the water, it dyes the water almost instantly, but for a good dyebath, let your onions simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes - it turns an incredible red-orange color. then remove your onions- you are really supposed to keep them contained in a cheesecloth bag or the like, but who has cheesecloth just layin' around, right?

then you should rinse your fabric, and, while it is still wet, dip or submerge it in the dye- i used Habotai silk scarves, which already had rolled, hemmed edges. . . fancy!

I wanted a dip-dyed effect, so...i just dipped it in. this was my first attempt, so i didn't want to try something too crazy. let this simmer for about 15 or 20 minutes, or until you like the color- but remember that it dries a lot lighter.

and here they are! i did two- the first one is on the right, the second one i dyed twice, as its first pass was not dark enough for my liking. below are some shots in different light- the color turned out really nicely, i think- the top photo is the most accurate, color-wise. the scarf on the left now lives in Switzerland with my lovely friend Danielle, a bit of California sun to bring with her to the deep winter mountains! As far as permanence of color, we shall see- i didn't use any mordant (such as salt or alum) as most online tutorials involving onions said that it lasts well without fixative. i definitely won't be washing these in the machine, but...they are silk, so i wouldn't anyway. as a side note, the don't smell like onions, which is good. i rinsed them in cold water after their onion soup bath, and put a bit of laundry detergent in to get any extra dye out- it seemed to brighten the color a bit, which was nice.

oo also i kept the remaining "dye", and, as mentioned before, its a beautiful color and i couldn't resist taking a photo in the sunshine.

in less onion-related news, here are some in-progress shots of some pieces that are almost done, yay!